I am wanting to buy my 2 year-old a new car seat. He currently has an Evenflo convertible seat that works fine, but I wanted to buy a spare for my boyfriend's car and will be thinking about a new one for myself soon as well. Does anyone know what the standards are for sure and what we might be able to get that will work for us for quite awhile? I have been looking at boosters with 5 point-harnesses but I didn't know if legally that's okay or not. He is 33-34 inches and 30 lbs.
Check out www.IIhs.org. It'll tell you the best and worst car seats.
Check out any of the seats made by Britax. We have a Britax Marathon (up to 65lbs, I think). They are very highly rated in crash tests (check out the web site another poster posted, and consumerreports.org).
A 5-point harness is safer! Just make sure you read the new car seat's weight restriction; after X number of pounds, you can't use the LATCH or the 5 point harness anymore, and have to switch to the lap/shoulder belt with the seats...
Good luck,
M.
We bought the Britax Frontier and it's great. My daughter seems to like it and it looks like a "big kid" booster so when she's older she'll probably not mind it. I don't remember the minimum height/weight for it but I do know that it's only forward facing. It's a great seat and the last one we'll need for her. Once my son is hitting the 40 lb mark in his Alpha Omega, I'll get one for him too.
the best car seat on the market is the Britax Boulevard with side impact protection. It goes to 65lbs. In general the longer they stay in a car seat rather than a booster the better. consumer reports has pretty good info on car seats.
A 5 pt harness is safer, no matter what. The laws are not really what you should go by as they have not been updated and there have been lots of advancements in carseats lately. It is safest to keep them in a 5 pt harness for as long as possible.
There are a couple new seats that have a 5 pt harness for children about 40 lbs. Alot of the boosters with harnesses only go up to 40 lbs so make sure you read the fine print.
The Graco Nautilus, The First Years True Fit and the Britax Frontier are some of the newest, best seats in this category.
We have 5 point harness/booster convertable seats for my 1, 3, and 4 1/2 year old. When you use the 5 point harness, they are considered "car seats." Once you use the car's seatbelt strap, then it's considered a booster. My 4 1/2 year old uses her seat like a booster. All three are Cosco Alpha Omega Convertible Car seats.
I have my daughter who is 2 1/2 in a high back booster, in fact my boys who are 8 and 7 also used those.You use the 5 point harness they are fine once they get older about 5 they can use ut with the car seat belt then its a booster. There are some that go to 100lbs now.
I would go with a highback booster because then you dont have to buy another one after that, they stay in that one. my boys who are 8 and 7 are in reg booster. The law for car seats in Il is 8 yrs old 80 pounds. I keep my 8 yrold in one becasue he is light for his age and he doesnt complain about it.
Good Luck
